Boko Haram Kills Over 50 Worshippers And Burns Down Four Churches In Nigeria
Churches set alight in attack by suspected Islamist extremists on village close to town from where schoolgirls were kidnapped.
By Sadho Ram — 01 Jul 2014, 06:35 PM — Updated over 10 years ago
On Sunday, suspected Boko Haram militants murdered at least 50 worshippers and torched four churches in a Nigerian village just six miles away from Chibok, where more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped in April
Gunmen on motorcycles stormed the villages of Kwada, Ngurojina, Karagau and Kautikari, opening fire on residents and hurling explosives into homes and churches. The villages are near Chibok, scene of the April 14 abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls,
cnn.comBarnabas Tanko, a member of a local vigilante group in Kwada, 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Chibok, said the gunmen, believed to be Boko Haram insurgents, attacked the village around 8:00 a.m. Witnesses say the gunmen pursued fleeing residents into the bush and shot them dead.
washingtontimes.com
"They killed dozens of people and burned houses after attacking worshippers," Mallam Yahi, who escaped from Kwada village, told The Associated Press
"So far we have 54 dead," said an official, speaking on condition of anonymity, about the attacks which targeted three villages surrounding Chibok. A local leader in the village of Chibok said residents had recovered at least 47 bodies from the surrounding area but that the search was ongoing.
washingtontimes.com
Some of the church buildings destroyed included the Protestant Church of Christ in Nigeria, the Pentecostal Deeper Life Bible Church and Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa
Boko Haram have also been blamed for a bombing at a shopping complex in the Nigerian capital Abuja
Image via ibtimes.co.ukSome of the church buildings destroyed included the Protestant Church of Christ in Nigeria, the Pentecostal Deeper Life Bible Church and Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa, which is Hausa for Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, Yahi said. The last was started by American missionaries from Illinois in the 1920s.
telegraph.co.ukIt is believed that the attacks targeted Christians attending early-morning Sunday Service. "The attackers went to churches with bombs and guns," Timothy James, a Chibok resident told AFP.
cnn.com"From what I gathered, dozens of worshippers, including men, women and children were killed."
An eyewitness said Kautikari village, a short distance from Chibok, was almost deserted, with bodies of civilians and Boko Haram fighters on the streets
A hotel in the northern Nigerian city of Bauchi destroyed in a blast on Saturday, in which at least 10 people were killed. Boko Haram is believed to have been responsible
Image via guim.co.ukThe insurgents were there for at least four hours, setting fire to homes and shooting sporadically. Vigilantes armed with bows and arrows and hunting rifles have been trying to defend the village from such attacks.
One of the survivors said some 20 men arrived in a pick-up truck and on motorbikes, Reuters reported. "Initially I thought they were military but when I came out, they were firing at people. I saw people fleeing and they burned our houses," Samuel Chibok was quoted as saying. "Smoke was billowing from our town as I left."
theguardian.com
The latest attacks will raise concerns that the Nigerian army has failed to make good on pledges to improve security in the area
The BBC's Will Ross, in the commercial capital Lagos, says a Nigerian air force plane has been seen flying over the area. However, residents of these extremely vulnerable villages often complain that there are not nearly enough soldiers deployed in the area and they have been calling on the government to arm the vigilante force, our correspondent adds.
theguardian.com
Hundreds of villagers have been killed in similar attacks in the region by Boko Haram in recent months. A state of emergency is in force in northern Nigeria because of the group's increasingly violent campaign to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state. Attacks in the Chibok area eight days earlier were feared to have left dozens of villagers dead.